Palazzo Pitti

I will start with a dilemma we had. Due to a lack of time we couldn’t attend several museums in Florence, so we fixed upon Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti.

It was quite difficult to choose between the two. I read a few articles on the Internet and in the guidebook. The main reason for why we chose Palazzo Pitti was location of the Boboli Gardens in close proximity to the palace. Besides, unlike Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti was the residence of the rulers of Florence. The fact that all the pictures in this gallery were hung according to their own tastes and wishes seemed more interesting to us. Though, if we visit Florence again we will certainly attend Uffizi too.

But let’s start with Palazzo Pitti.

Palazzo Pitti

The Palace is situated in the Oltrarn district, on the other side of the River Arno and a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. There had been times when the district was very unpopular and was regarded as “second-rate” one. But everything changed in1550 when the Palace built in 1457 by Luca Pitti the was turned into the chief residence of the Medici family.

Today Palazzo Pitti is a large and exciting museum with the entrance fee of 8.5 euro. The entrance fee to the Boboli Gardens and all the museum’s shows is 14 euro.

We chose the second variant. The show starts with the Palatine Gallery.

Palatine Gallery

The Palatine Gallery is the largest and the most luxurious picture show both in Palazzo Pitti and entire Florence. Each room of the show is a unique piece of art designed in rich and luxurious style and has its own idea. Each of the dozens of pictures is a world level piece of art. The gallery’s ceilings and pieces of furniture also deserve special attention.

Palatine Gallery’s ceilings

A few official halls coming just after the gallery were used to held receptions of foreign delegations. The halls are as beautiful as all other rooms of the Palace. The Palatine Gallery is considered to be the largest collection of Raphael’s pictures. Photography is strictly prohibited there. Nevertheless I managed to take a few photos.

Apart from the Palatine Gallery Palazzo Pitti currently houses the Gallery of Modern Art which presents works of Italian painters of the 19th century. Besides, it houses the Silver Museum and the Porcelain Museum contains a collection of men’s and women’s porcelain from the 16th century till nowadays.

After very quick three hour tour of all the museums we went out to the very large courtyard of Palazzo Pitti and then moved to the Boboli Gardens.